Accidentally in Love
by xxEponineLovexx
Summary: Marius loves Cosette. Cosette loves Marius. Eponine loves Marius more than anything, but he doesn't even know she exists... right?
1. Chapter 1 If He Asked, I'd Be His

She was watching him through the small hole in the thin wall separating the dusty, rotten rooms in the Gorbeau House. Her once beautiful brown hair fell in a tangled mess down her back, tied back with a small black string. Her bony shoulders were poking out of her ragged chemise. She could have been beautiful, but after years of living off of barely anything, her once dainty and delicate structure became emaciated and frail. Her once pale, smooth skin became tanned and freckled from long days of walking the streets during the summer. Her eyes were still the same though, dark brown and boring compared to all the pretty girls' blue eyes. Yet, if one tried hard and saw through the dirt and the grime, they would find an almost pretty face smiling up at them. That was one other thing that never changed about the girl. No matter how awful her conditions, she could always find something to smile about.

He was a student struggling to make a living. He had dark hair that cascaded down his face in beautiful curls. He was not rich, but he was not dirt poor. He spent his days studying and working in a book shop doing translations. When he was not learning or working, he was with his friends at the Café Musain.

The young girl looking through the wall watched as the handsome young man paced back and forth across his small room pouring over some piece of paper. She strained her eyes to try and see what he was so busy reading. Whatever it was, it was very dear to him, because as soon as his eyes got to the bottom of his paper he kissed it quickly and read it again. Oh how she wished he was kissing her instead of that delicate piece of paper, but he did not know she existed. He went on reading and kissing this paper for what seemed like hours. _How could one piece of paper be so wonderful?_ the girl thought.

Suddenly a voice interrupted her daydreams of his precious lips on hers. "Eponine! Get your nose out of that hole in the wall and help me with supper!"

"Oh, shut up Azelma," the Eponine called from her spot in front of the wall. Azelma was three years younger than Eponine, but she acted as if she was the one in charge because when you're older sister is busy obsessing over a boy who doesn't even know she exists, you sort of have to take charge.

"Are you busy watching that schoolboy again?" Azelma asked, rolling her eyes.

"He has a name 'Zelma," young girl in love replied. "Marius Pontmercy..." she sighed.

"Well stop staring at Monsieur Marius, and eat your supper, which I had to make. All. By. Myself."

Eponine rolled her eyes and walked over to their small wooden table. She smiled as she saw her dinner, potatoes and half a loaf of bread. "Where did you come up with the money to buy all of this?" Eponine asked as she began to eat.

Azelma blushed and looked down at her plate as she mumbled, "I stole it from a man in the streets..."

Eponine nodded and continued eating. Money had been very tight for the girls ever since their mother died of a fever and their father left. They resorted to begging in the streets most of the time, but Eponine knew this would not last very long. She dreaded the day that the landlady realizes that the money for rent has fallen short and kicks them out. Being two teenage girls, wandering the streets at night is a very scary experience in itself.

Eponine finished her meal in silence and quickly back to her position at the wall. Marius was no longer in his room. _He must have gone to the Cafe Musain with his friends... He's so brave talking about the Revolution, _Eponine thought. The letter he was reading was laying on his bed. Eponine squinted her eyes and tried to make out the loopy and perfect handwriting.

"'Zelma, I'll be right back. I see a dropped wallet on the road," Eponine called as she rushed to put on her threadbare brown cap and squeezed her feet into her two sizes too small boots. She rushed out of the door without waiting for a reply and quickly looked both ways down the hallway to make sure no one was coming. She slowly crept up to Marius's door and snuck in. _Wow... his place is so clean,_ she thought as she rushed over to his bed and snatched the letter. Heart racing, she began to read the letter:

_My dearest Marius,_

_I hope you are well. I missed seeing you today, but I know that you must be busy planning the Revolution with your friends. I went on a walk with my father today to try and keep myself from missing you too much. I asked him when he thought I would be old enough to stop living with him and find a young man to marry and live with instead. Father was not happy about this question. He said that one man in my life is enough, and that he was happy to be that man. It's a good thing he doesn't know about you and me, yet. I'm writing to tell you that I love you with my whole heart, and I hope that you will join my in the garden behind my house a week from today. Je t'aime, my love. _

_ With love,_

_ Cosette _

Eponine felt a fat, pearly tear form and slowly drip down her face. He was in love. He was in love with some other girl. Some other girl who was most likely beautiful, sweet, and most definitely not someone who had to beg for money to buy food. Heartbroken, she gently set the letter back down on his bed and began to creep back to the door. Suddenly she froze as she heard footsteps approaching the door. _Oh my God, if Marius finds me here and realizes that I've read his letter, he will be so angry with me._

"Eponine! You scared me!" Marius said as he walked into his apartment, carrying his hat. "What are you doing in here?"

"I... Uh... I was wondering if maybe you had a mirror anywhere?" she lied quickly. Oh, how she hated lying to him. It made her feel so guilty. "Well, I am meeting someone for dinner and... Our mirror broke yesterday, and I was hoping to make myself look presentable... for him, you see?"

"Oh!" Marius said, surprised. He had never really thought of Eponine as the type of girl interested in impressing boys. "Who are you meeting?"

"I'm sure you don't know him," she replied quickly, biting her lip.

"Oh... well this is what I use as my mirror," he said, handing her a plate sized piece of glass. "You can keep it if you want. I don't use it very often."

"No I can't take this... What if you need it sometime?" she said, forcing the glass back into his hand.

"Really, it's fine Eponine. I don't use it. I found it here when I moved in," Marius persisted as he handed the mirror back to her. _Whoa. _he thought as her small body crushed into his and her weak, twig-like arms flew around him.

"Thank you so much Monsieur Marius," Eponine squealed as she let go of him. She did not want to let go, but the hug was an accident in the first place. And, he was in love with some other girl after all.

"Marius. Call me Marius, Eponine," he smiled.

A huge smile spread across her face as she spun around and ran back to her apartment.

"_**If he asked, I'd be his."**_

_**~Eponine Thernardier**_


	2. Chapter 2 I've Got You Worried

Marius smiled as he watched the young girl run out of his apartment, holding onto the piece of glass like it was golden. He had always liked Eponine. She was very nice and always friendly, yet he wondered how she and her sister managed to earn a living. Sometimes he worried about them alone in an apartment without someone to care for them. Eponine was only seventeen and Azelma, three years younger. He had seen Eponine sneak out of the apartment late at night in her best dress, and he hated to think about where she was going and what she was doing.

_I wonder who she is meeting? _Marius thought. _Jean Prouvaire is young... Maybe she's meeting him. _

It didn't bother Marius that Eponine was meeting some other man; he was just curious. He had a beautiful girl that he was seeing after all. Cosette. Perhaps the most beautiful girl that he had ever met in his eighteen years of existence. She was very sweet and polite, with pure blond hair that was always pinned up in a mess of loose curls hidden by her hat. One day he would love to take all the pins out and watch the curls bounce down her back and run them through his was so innocent and oblivious to all the bad things of the world, childlike almost. She was only sixteen. Oh, but she could write. She wrote with the skill of an old man who had studied different styles of writing for years, and her letters were wonderful to read.

The date on her last letter read "Friday, May 30," just three days ago. Marius did the math on his fingers. If she sent the letter three days ago, and they were to meet in a week from that day, he would be seeing her in just four days.

"Eponine! What took you so long? Did you get the wallet?" Azlema asked, looking very excited.

"No... It uh... it was a scrap of paper," Eponine replied, biting her lip nervously. "I found this though." She handed her sister the piece of glass that Marius gave her.

"Oh. What is it? It's just a shard of glass."

"No, it's a mirror," Eponine replied, smiling. She watched as her sister's scowl slowly turned into a small smile. Eponine loved seeing her sister happy, it didn't happen very often with the rough life of an orphaned girl.

"Will you try and fix my hair?" the fourteen year old squealed.

"Of course," Eponine replied with a huge smile across her face. She pulled her sister over to the small cot that they shared as a bed. She sat her down on the thin mattress and took the small silver comb with flower designs etched into it out of the wooden box that held her most prized possessions. She gently combed through Azelma's light brown hair. Eponine had always been jealous of her sister's hair. It was light brown with a reddish tint, while her own was brown with no tint, curl, or anything.

"Ow! You're tugging!" Azelma whined.

"Sorry... It's just knotted and tangled," Eponine said, wrestling with the tangles. Small whines and squeaks escaped out of Azelma as she sat through her sisters tugs. Fifteen minutes later Eponine relaxed and looked at her work. "It's beautiful 'Zelma..." she sighed.

Azelma blushed and grabbed the glass to look at herself. She gasped as she saw her reflection. "Oh, Eponine! I love it!" she smiled. She ran her dirty fingers through her now smooth and silky hair. "Can I brush yours?"

"I guess so," Eponine agreed. She was planning on going out tonight for money, and she did want to look her best.

Marius checked his watch quickly and frowned. _Agh. Late again. _He thought as he straightened his old black hat and walked into the back room of the Cafe Musain.

"Marius! You're late!" Enjorlas, the leader of the group of revolutionary students, called from his position at head of the table.

"He was probably meeting with one of his lady friends," Courfeyrac joked. He was Enjorlas's best friend and sat at his right hand side. Marius had always liked Courfeyrac better than Enjorlas. He was much lighter and easier to talk about something other than politics with. Marius had stayed at his flat for a few days after running away from his grandfather's house. "What's her name this time? She's a pretty one isn't she?"

Marius felt the red on rise in his cheeks as he blushed deeply. "Cosette," he mumbled, staring at the floor.

"You should bring her to one of the meetings sometime," Grantaire said, bottle of wine in hand.

"Her father would never let her..." Marius replied. It was true; Cosette's father was very protective. And, seeing as he still didn't know that Marius was seeing his daughter, the thought of bringing Cosette to a meeting was next to impossible. Cosette didn't even want Marius involved in the revolution anyway. It was too dangerous for her taste. Marius remembered the time she asked if he was taking part in it.

He was sitting on the bench in the garden behind Cosette's house with her. He had been talking to her about politics and other stuff that men are interested in. She held his hand and listened politely, even if she didn't understand what he was talking about. Her face changed from a polite smile to a look of concern when Marius brought up the revolution.

"But Marius, surely you don't want to be involved in that do you?" she asked with wide eyes and a small frown. "It's too dangerous... You could get caught."

"I'll be fine, Cosette," he insisted even though he was not sure if that was the truth. He knew that the revolution would possibly lead to the death of him and his friends, but he did not want to worry Cosette any more.

"What is you die?" she replied shakily. "I could never live without you. I love you Marius Pontmercy."

"I won't die Cosette. Death cannot break true love.

It was late at night when Eponine woke up. She glanced over to her side to make sure that Azelma was still sound asleep. She quietly got up and padded across the room to look at herself in the mirror that she and Azelma had been looking in all night. She slowly pushed a strand of hair out of her face and sighed. She hated having to do what she was about to do, but she knew that the money was tighter than ever right now. She tip toed over to the small trunk that she and Azelma kept their few extra clothes in and pulled out the nicest dress she owned. She had once worn it back when her family had owned an inn in Montfermeil. Even though she was younger then, the dress was now a little loose because of how skinny she had become due to the lack of food. She squeezed her feet into her old, brown, boots, the only shoes she had.

She slowly walked out of the small apartment and into the street. The cool wind blew her newly brushed hair all around her face as she walked down the street. _How did everything come to this? _Eponine thought sadly. _We used to play with dolls and giggle as the small girl did all of our chores. Now she is loved by the man who I love more than anything. Oh, how the tables have turned. _She shivered as she walked down the road searching for the man she was supposed to meet. She hoped he wasn't scary. The last man was very rough and he scared her a lot.

Marius was walking home from the meeting at the Cafe Musain that ended up going late. He hated getting home after ten because once it started getting late, the streets became pretty dangerous. People would do anything for money, and Marius did not need to be mugged tonight.

He strained his eyes as he saw the figure of a young girl running towards someone much bigger than her. _Oh my God, that's Eponine, _he thought as the light from a nearby lamp shown on her face. _She's running off with that scary man! _

"Hey, Eponine!" he called from across the street. "Where are you going? I can walk you home if you need.

She turned her head quickly and glanced back to see who was calling her. Her heart leapt as she realized that it was Marius. She turned back around quickly and ran into the dark alley with the man she was meeting. She did not want Marius to see her like this.

"Don't worry about me, Monsieur Marius..." Eponine whispered quietly.

_**I've got you worried, I have. That shows you like me quite a lot."**_

_**~Eponine **_


End file.
